Merchandise carrier



Mar. 13,1923.

Y W. B. MILLER MERCHANDISE CARRIER 2 sheets-sheet 1 Mar. 13, 1923. 1,448,311 W. B, MILLER MERCHANDISE-CARRIER Filed Apr. 8, 1921 2 sheets-sheet 2 FIG. 2

d IN ENTOR vr trhau;

To all whom it may concern:

Patented Mar. 13, 1923.

WILLIAM BOYD MIILER, OFZPITTSBURYGH, rEmvsYLvAniA.

mn'ncrtanmsn CARRIER.

Application nlea a'iirn 8 Be it known that'L'WILLmM BoYb M LL ER, a citizen'of the United' sta'tes, andresi'-- general type of apparatus'fas that described and claimed in Letters Patent er thejUnited States, No. 1,022,104. granted to me Aprilf2,

,1921. semi no; 459,769.

clearance for the industrial car or auto truck." I I Myp-resent invention is of special utility in this connection. The projecting sides formerly employed as a part of the platform truckar'eremoved from the truck and are replaced by relatively stationary guides placed at suitable loading and unloading pointsf When the truck orindustrialcar is stopped so that the transverse beams and guides in the car body or truck body register oppok sitethe correspondin'gbeams and 'guidesin the fixed guide members, these parts 00- operate to produce the" same function as in theplatfor'm truck of my prior patent.

, p In theaccom'panying' drawing, Fig. 1 is a sidelevational view with parts in section,

1912. It is my present obj.ec't"to 'simplifyj with' my invention; and Fig; 2 is a similar and otherwise improve the construction"viewof the-same device showing the lower supporting'members in a different position I As shownin the-drawing the'apparatus 'desigi p 80 tively stationary guide structures 3, and lift- 'ing mechanism designated generally by the 1 numeralitf The car 2'is intended torepre;

shown in my paten p v Like my patented apparatus, my present" invention is applicable to many loading, un-

loading and conveying purposes where necessary to'sei'ze and elevate,l'oad or convey articles which must not "be mutilated jarred or broken, and which are "lJO' b B conveyed from one' fioor to another of awarehouse or the like, orfare to be loadedi upo'nor unloaded from ships, barges, freightj cars,"or other" transporting means.

My patented apparatus "included two c0-' .operating sets of parts, one' a platform for receiving the goods to be transported; and the other a lifting device adapted tobe low ered uponthe platformjand provid'e'd with arms in the nature of linkedfcantilevers pivoted to the carrier and adapte'dto'pass beneath the article's and liftthem from theplatform. This loading platiform, with its guides for the descending lifter'and' for the cantilever arms. necessarily projects'a confore not suitable for use in many situations where little space is available; The construction shown in m pri r pat; ent is especially inconvenient when it is desired to incorporate the and 1m; loading features of my platformtruckin the body of an automobilef truck or ,indi 1 stria1 railway car. 'InfS 1lClifCa'se"the projecting sides of the platform true are useful-i n oa in ie o d nefi fha di to from the platform truck, and" heSip'rdecn 111g sides req'ui're'a considerable amountbf showing ta device constructed in accordance sent any form of wheeled conveyer, such, for" example,'as a platform truck, an auto truck, or an lndustr al railway car; "Asshow'n in' the'drawing, the car 2 consists of a framel '5 supported on channel bars '6 that carry hearings? in which are journaled axles 8, to the 'ends' of which areatta'ched wheels 9 is: shown for the purpose of "illustration only, and that the car may;"either travel truck or wagonwheels- Between the beams i5 are cantilever guides "11 conveniently ifo'rmed'of bent sheet metal, a pair of symmetrically positioned guides being carried betweene'ach pair of beams Eachof thestation'ary guide structures 3 consists of a suitab'lesupportingframework composed of a vertical beams 15, horizontal beams 16 and transverse braces 17, theboxlike structure formed by these beams and worksuitably composed of transverse beams resting upon tracks 10. It is to be under; stood that'this particular car construction upon rails, as shown or upon ordinary auto "braces resting on a suitable support consistj1ng',*for e'xamp'leQof angle beams 18 which permit the guide members to; be moved or" lengthwise to make'any slight corrections thatm ayfibe necessary with respect to the 'nos 'tipn cf the guides 11 on the C l 2;

set of short beams 20 corresponding in number and spacing to the beams 5 carried by the car 2 are mounted upon the supporting structure, and curved cantilever guides 21 are secured between the adjacent pairs of beams 20. lVhen the car 2 is brought into position with its beams 5 registering with the corresponding beams 20 on the stationar 1 guide supports 3, the cantilever guides 11 and 21 cooperate to form a channel having a double curve, the portion 22 sloping down from the outside in the direction of entrance of the linked cantilevers, and the portions 6 carried by the car being inclined upwardly toward the meeting point of the guides at the middle of the beams 5.

The carrier 4E may be similar spects to the carrier shown in my Patent No. 1,022,10e, and consists of a frame 25 on which are pivotally mounted two sets of cantilever arms 26, the cantilever arms at each side of the carrier being fulcrumed on a rock shaft 27 carried in bearings 28 on opposite sides of the frame 25. Each rock shaft 27 is provided with lever arms 29 preferably arranged in pairs at opposite ends of the rock. shaft, and connected to a line, chain or wire rope 30 passing around sheaves 31 which are mounted in correspond ing pairs in bearings 32 on the side members of the frame 25.

The frame 25 is suspended by any suitable means from a crane or like-carrying device, not shown, by a line 33 connected thereto in any. suitablemanner, as by means of a clevis 34 and a hook 35, carried by suspending arms 86 attached to the top cross members 37 of the frame 25.

Each pair of lines 30 at the sides of the frame 25 extends upwardly from the sheave 31 to encircle a sheave 38 which is mounted on a shaft 39' carried in suitable bearings 40 at the top of the frame 25. The shaft '39 also carries a central pulley actuated. by a controlling line 40 guided preferably by sheaves 4:1 and operated from a crane, derrick or the like, as is well understood in the art.

It is obvious that any suitable carrying or transporting device may be employed within the limits of my invention, and that the pan.

vtciular construction of the frame and the particular means for controlling and actu ating the pivoted arms or cantilevers may be varied in many respects.

Each of the cantilever arms 26 consists of a number of. links 42 pivoted to each other, as clearly shown and described in my Patent No. 1,022,104. The-construction of these arms is therefore not described in further detail herein.

As stated above, thestationary cantilever guide structures 3 are located at anyfpoints where it is desired to load and unload.mer-.

chandise, Assg that the merchandisein all reindicated at 50 has been piled by hand or by any other suitable means upon the trans verse beams 5 of the car 2, and that it is desired to pick up and transport these packages or boxes, the carrying device 4 carrying the cantilever arms 26 is moved into position above the car 2, the cantilevers being allowed to assume the depending position shown in Fig. 2 by proper manipulation of the controlling line 40 and the consequent relaxation of the ropes 30. Any slight shifting of the position of the carrier l to bring it correctly down upon the guides may easily be taken care of by the operator, and if the stationary guides 4 do not register properly with the guides 11 on the car 2, either the car or the guide supports 8 should be moved slightly so as to bring the parts into proper registry. As the carrier descends the lower ends of the jointed cantilever arms 6 engage and, on the further descent of the carrier frame, are caused to pass beneath the goods carried on the car may be provided with vertical guides similar to the guides 44 shown in my prior patent, for insuring the properinsertion of the cantilever arms in the guideways. The proper positioning of the cantilevers under the goods is also aided by proper manipulation the downwardly sloping guides 21 2. If desired, the car 2 of the line 40. As soon as the ropes 30 are drawn taut the goods may be raised from the car 2 by means of the carrying lines, and the goodsfare then transported to the desired unloading point.

In unloading the merchandise a pair of stationary guide supports 3 is preferably employed, and also a car or other support similar to the car 2. The carrier is lowered. until the goods rest upon the receiving car, and uponallowing the ropes 30 to become slack the carrier maybe removed by means of the carrying lines, the cantilever arms being free to withdraw and being guided in their, outward movement by the registering guides 11 and 21.

The details of construction which I have shown and described may be varied in many respects without-departing from my invention. I therefore desire that no limitations be imposed on my invention except such as are indicated in theappended claims.

I claim as invention:

1. Means for lifting and. transporting merchandise comprising a movable car, relatively stationary guide members spaced apart the approximate width of the said car, and a lifter pro videdwith pivotally movable arms, the said car and-guide members being provided with registering guides for directing the said pivoted arms beneath the goods carried on the-said car. I

2. Means for lifting and transporting goods comprising a structures spaced apart the approximate movablecar, two guide I pass beneath the goods carried on the saidcar. a

3. Means for conveying merchandise comprising a wheeled car having transversely extending supports for merchandise, guides disposed in the spaces between the said supports, two relatively stationary guide structures spaced apart the approximate width of the said car, guides carried by the said supports and adapted to register with the said guides on said car, a lifting frame, and jointed cantilever arms carried by the said lifting frame and adapted to engage the said registering guides and to pass between the said merchandise supports on the said car.

4. Apparatus for conveying merchandise 7 comprising a wheeled car having spaced and i i transversely extending merchandise supports, sheet metal guides disposed between the said-supports and sloping outwardly and downwardly from the center line of the car to the outer edges thereof, guide structures spaced apart the approximate Width of'the car, guides carried by the said guide sup-- ports and adapted to register with the said guides. carried by the said car, the said a if guides carried byithe said guide supports sloping downwardly and toward the saidcar, and a carrier frame provided with pivoted cantilever arms adapted toengage said guides and to pass beneath the merchandise carried onthe said car. y

1 In testimony whereof, I the said WILLIAM" BOYD MILLER have'hereunto set my hand.

v 1 WILLIAM BOYD MILLER Witnesses:

EDITH K. Fnnnsn, J OHN F. WILL. 

